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50 new vehicles by 2025: Ford making big push in China

SHANGHAI — Ford will launch 50 new vehicles in China by 2025, including 15 electrified vehicles, the U.S. firm said at an event in Shanghai on Tuesday, as it looks to rev up sales growth in the market and shift towards cleaner electric cars. Ford's sales in China have been weak in recent months, and the company is scrambling to come up with electric and hybrid vehicles to comply with strict Chinese quotas over production and sales for so-called new energy vehicles, or NEVs. The U.S. automaker is undergoing a broad review of its China operations, part of a strategic re-think under new Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett, which will likely see the company focus on electric commercial vans as well as electric cars. "Between now and 2025, we will launch 50 new vehicles in China, and of those 50 new vehicles, 15 of them will be all-new electrified vehicles," said Peter Fleet, Ford's head of Asia Pacific, pointing to big growth in the "utility" segment. Fleet also said Ford's China revenue would grow by 50 percent over the same period. China is pushing automakers toward electric and hybrid petrol-electric vehicles, setting tough quotas for NEVs that come into play in 2019, and has signaled a longer-term shift away from traditional internal combustion engine cars. The major shift in the world's largest auto market has jolted some automakers, sparking a spate of recent electric vehicle (EV) joint ventures in the market. Ford has announced an EV tie-up with China's Anhui Zotye Automobile Co Ltd. "We've never seen change like we do today," said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford. "Everything is being disrupted" by the development of autonomous vehicles, trends such as ride-sharing and electric vehicles, he added. "It's clearly the case that China will lead the world in EV development, and so we at Ford are investing enormous amounts of money both here in China and globally to bring electrification into fruition." Reporting by Adam JourdanRelated Video: Image Credit: Reuters Auto News Green Plants/Manufacturing Ford Lincoln Electric Hybrid Shanghai Jim Hackett

2023 Lincoln Aviator gets a few small changes, small price bumps

The 2023 Lincoln Aviator Lincoln makes a few small changes to its offer, as related by Ford Authority. On the feature side, the 12-way Comfort Front Seats for driver and passenger are gone. The bottom three trims, Standard, Reserve and Grand Touring all come with a 10-way Comfort Front Seat for the driver and an eight-way throne for the passenger. The Black Label and Grand Touring continue with their 30-way Perfect Position front seats. Outside, the Bronze Smoke Metallic and Burgundy Velvet Metallic colors depart the exterior palette, replaced by Diamond Red Metallic Tinted Clearcoat and Jewel Sandstone. The Jet Package expands availability to the base Reserve trim, no longer requiring the Reserve I package, and to the Black Label, which didn't offer it before. The package full of black trim pieces and wheels hasn't changed from when Lincoln introduced it a year ago, including bits like a solid black grille and surround, black door spears and mirror caps, and 22-inch black aluminum wheels. A similar package exclusively for the Black Label trims is called the Black Label Special Edition Package. It makes the same changes as the Jet Package while also painting the roof black. Finally, the Illumination Package for the Grand Touring PHEV adds fog lights for 2023. Prices for the 2023 model year after the $1,195 destination charge are up a little over the sums we noted when the 2022 model year debuted. Remember, however, that 2022 pricing went down on all but one trim by anywhere from $5 to $1,085. The new MSRPs are in line with model year premiums we're used to seeing from a time before industrial upheaval. The figures and their differences from 2022 are: Standard: $54,535 ($1,875) Reserve: $59,700 ($1,150) Grand Touring: $70,385 ($830) Black Label: $81,920 ($1,375) Black Label Grand Touring: $90,475 ($1,375) Engine choices don't change, those being the twin-turbo 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 with 400 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque for all trims but the Grand Touring PHEV. The plug-in hybrid electrifies that engine to make a combined 494 hp and 630 lb-ft. Every Aviator shifts through a ten-speed automatic. The Aviator has sold 20,324 units so far this year. Based on figures for the past three years, we anticipate it will finish above last year's 20,324 sales and 2020's tally of 23,080 sales. A refresh expected in 2024 should bring more substantial updates and improvements.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party.

Mustang parts under the new Lincoln Aviator mean good things for Ford

NEW YORK — As we mentioned last night, underneath the new Lincoln Aviator "concept" there appears to be an independent rear suspension lifted right from the Ford Mustang parts bin. And while it's pretty cool on its face that Mustang rear-drive platform bits are being reused in the broader Ford universe, what this means for the next Explorer could be really cool. A quick caveat: The Aviator here in New York is very close to the production version, but it's not technically a production car. It looks hand-built, with temporary exhaust and some show-car touches. The suspension underneath looks exactly like a Mustang's, but the actual production Aviator will almost certainly use beefier components with the same basic design and geometry, since the Aviator will be much heavier than the smaller Mustang. That being said, we're fairly confident that even at this early stage, the Mustang-derived suspension seen in New York is a preview of what'll be under the production Aviator. Furthermore, Ford won't say it, but based on what we're seeing on Aviator, it's a safe bet that Ford will utilize the Aviator platform for the next Explorer. That would enable the economies of scale necessary to produce a brand new rear-drive-based SUV platform in the first place. It also means that the Explorer should be available without AWD — and given the stable of powerful EcoBoost engines, and the competent 10-speed automatic in the parts bin, a rear-drive Explorer has a shot at being a decent driver. Aviator wouldn't go rear-drive-based if driving dynamics weren't important; Explorer should inherit these priorities. More evidence: The Explorer spy shots we saw back in February sure share the Aviator's general proportions. Even back then, before Aviator was revealed, we were hypothesizing that an EcoBoost 3.5-liter-powered version could boast as much as 400 horsepower, if the Expedition's tune were adopted. Suddenly, the Explorer seems very interesting. So, an EcoBoost, rear-drive Explorer sure sounds like something Ford Performance would be interested in, right? We knew an Explorer ST is coming, but with 365-400 horsepower potential and a chassis designed with dynamics in mind, it doesn't seem like as much of a stretch as the Edge ST. And a performance-oriented AWD system is a possibility, too. That's an area where Ford has been gathering experience at a rapid pace. What do we not expect from a new Explorer? A V8.